Henry S. Shurtleff was one of the earliest settlers of Hampton Township, Illinois. Born in Farmington, New Hampshire, on February 27, 1816, he moved to Hampton Township in 1840, and bought and cultivated farmland, before selling out and buying farmland on the Rock River bottom.

He was in the mercantile business in Rapids City, Illinois, and served as Postmaster for ten years before moving out to his farm. He served as an Assessor before being elected Justice of the Peace in 1856. In 1885, he was appointed Notary Public. He remained a Justice of the Peace until his death on May 27, 1893.

Shurtleff married Emeline Williamson in 1840, and the couple had four children before her death in 1848. The next year, he married her sister, Elizabeth Williamson, and had four more children.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The Henry S. Shurtleff Justice of the Peace ledger dates from 1856-1861, with additional documents from 1863 and 1876. The bound ledger itself contains a handwritten record of all the cases over which Shurtleff presided from 1857 to 1861. These range from chattel mortgages to disputes over payment for services rendered.

Inserted into the ledger were repayment orders for mortgages, and records from additional cases.

The collection also contains five obituaries--two for Job A. Shurtleff, and one each for Henry S. Shurtleff, Charles A. Shurtleff and his wife.

SYSTEM OF ARRANGEMENT

The entries in the ledger are ordered chronologically. The materials inserted into the ledger have been refoldered for preservation purposes and are also ordered chronologically. As the obituaries are undated, they have been arranged alphabetically.